Two travel writers telling tales of food, life, and adventure on the road of life, and around the world.

16 November 2010

London Baby!

For the first time in almost exaclty two years I took a vacation that had nothing to do with short trips to visit my family. The first part of my trip was to London to visit one of my very favorite friends whom I haven't seen in far too long. And as lucky coincidence would have it...my visit coincided with Hallowhedon. We went ready to be as geeky as everyone else while we celebrated the genius that created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. We ended up being far far out-geeked but I was pretty ok with that. I got to meet Giles so I was pretty darn happy. For two days we hung out with other fans, got autographs from and listened to talks from all the Hallowhedon guests, and watched an episode of Buffy with live guest commentary.

I also fell a little bit more in love with Alan Tudyk who has played some of my favorite Whedon characters.

For my first convention it was a pretty easy introduction. I had a lot of fun and would happily go again. The rest of my was filled with activities that were a little more typical London touristy. I couldn't not visit Portobello Road, especially after Bedknobs and Broomsticks aired on TV the night before I left.

In between wandering in and out of shops on the road I came across the tiniest vehicle I've ever seen. I was not the only one to be intrigued.

One of my first stops in London was the British Museum. I get museumed out pretty quickly but knew that I had to see the mummies.

I love the detail on his sandals.

I also made a point to snap a picture of the Rosetta stone. Mostly because it would make my brother jealous.

My sightseeing adventures involved a lot of walking. I was given my friend's special guided tour of London and we also went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour one evening. Between these tours I saw a great deal of the city. I even remember what some of it was.

Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's

Westminster Abbey

London Bridge

London Bridge

Not London Bridge; this was a pedestrian bridge somewhere...

View from unremembered pedestrian bridge. The dome is Saint Paul's.

The Eye

Parliament

Did you know that the clock tower is not Big Ben? Big Ben is the bell inside the clock tower. I was unaware of this.